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[Comic Book Review] “Rasputin” #1 Is Legendary

Published

9 years ago

on

When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

STK652997

 

WRITTEN BY: Alex Grecian

ART BY: Riley Rossmo

PUBLISHER: Image Comics

PRICE: $2.99

RELEASE: October 29, 2014

Reviewed By: Katy Rex

Rasputin is one of those public figures, legends, that has held prolonged public fascination. He’s on a short list of historical figures whose inexplicable life story is more interesting than most fiction; Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth Bathory, Lizzie Borden. There are rumors of dark magic and witchcraft, and those possibilities seem as believable as any other explanation. Where Grigori Rasputin benefits is his connection to another favorite historical mystery, that of Anastasia Nikolaevna.

Alex Grecian and Riley Rossimo seem to know exactly how much fact and how much truth of the legend to include. This is definitely a first issue, and it’s setting up the rest of the arc with backstory and development. The art is a beautiful combination of vintage and otherworldly touches. The story engages even as it explicates. The palette (colored by Ivan Plascencia) plays with the era and adds dashes of the supernatural throughout the book.

This is a really enjoyable read. It would have been significantly more enjoyable, however, with different lettering choices. There’s text-in-panel narration in a scrawling, difficult-to-read font that takes away from the overall story, forcing the reader to spend as much time focusing on the letters as the words. Further, there were opportunities for creative fonts, and with a Russian subject, it was ripe for stylized text.

This is a very good series, and one I will continue to read. It’s what I like about historical fiction, that slight bent toward the speculative, keeping close enough to the facts to create intrigue. This story has all the potential to contain all the elements that I like in a good series. Insanity, supernatural, death-defying mysteries, political turmoil, royalty—there’s so much more to come, and It’ll absolutely stay on my pull list.

—

yoyos2Katy Rex writes comics analysis at endoftheuniversecomics.com, comicsbulletin.com, and bloody-disgusting.com. She also writes scholarly articles for various academic journals. She really likes butt jokes, dinosaurs, and killing psychos and midgets in Borderlands 2. She has a great sense of humor if you’re not an asshole.
Twitter: @eotucomics
Instagram: @katy_rex
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Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

5 days ago

on

April 18, 2024

By

Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

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